I knew I’d like my new hairdresser Asif when he said “I don’t like when hair looks too healthy. It’s boring.”

This is a photo I took without permission from deep within his Facebook albums.

He also told me not to get the requisite midwestern North Face sleeping bag jacket because they’re “so ugly” and that I should go to AllSaints instead. I like that attitude: screw function, let’s all just focus on looking awesome.

He’s definitely supportive of normal people who like shiny, healthy, split end-free hair, but I have always gravitated toward cotton candy-esque bouffants with tons of damage volume, so his willingness to cater to my destroyed-chic style was refreshing. Supershiny and split end-free hair just hangs there and looks lame, if you ask me. I like my head to be a beachy haystack. When I actually try to style my hair, it involves blowdrying it into a big mass then taming it slightly with a curling iron, teasing the crap out of it and dousing it with hairspray.

Asif does what he wants.

So unlike the philosophies of many hairdressers (who always err on the side of trimming too much off the ends, deep conditioning to the point of boredom and glossy, flat ends), Asif just helps you look damn cool, cutting and conditioning only as much as is absolutely necessary. Messy hair reigns supreme.

Dry and damaged? Yes, please.

I asked Asif for some sensible ideas for achieving messy-chic hair. Here are his top three tips:

1.) Ask for a messy, textured cut.

Even though Asif suggests a trim every two months for most people, I go for longer in between cuts. If you want hair to look especially disheveled, you need to ask for a cut with a lot of texture.

2.) Use Davines Sea Salt Primer spray.

Asif suggests dousing hair with Davines Sea Salt Primer before bed. When you wake up you’ll look like you were at a rave all night. To complete the undone-awesomeness, use a dry wax to separate and finesse.